Laser produced plasma illuminator with liquid sheet jet target

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for generating X-ray illumination from a laser produced plasma (LPP) employing a liquid sheet jet target are presented herein. A highly focused, short duration laser pulse is directed to a liquid sheet jet target. The interaction of the focused laser pulse with the sheet jet target ignites a plasma. In some embodiments, the liquid sheet jet is generated by a convergent capillary nozzle or a convergent, planar cavity nozzle. In some embodiments, the target material includes one or more elements having a relatively low atomic number. In some embodiments, the liquid sheet jet LPP light source generates multiple line or broadband X-ray illumination in a soft X-ray (SXR) spectral range used to measure structural and material characteristics of semiconductor structures. In some embodiments, Reflective, Small-Angle X-ray Scatterometry measurements are performed with a liquid sheet jet LPP illumination source as described herein.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application for patent claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/929,560, filed Nov.1, 2019, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The described embodiments relate to x-ray metrology systems and methods,and more particularly to methods and systems for improved measurementaccuracy.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Semiconductor devices such as logic and memory devices are typicallyfabricated by a sequence of processing steps applied to a specimen. Thevarious features and multiple structural levels of the semiconductordevices are formed by these processing steps. For example, lithographyamong others is one semiconductor fabrication process that involvesgenerating a pattern on a semiconductor wafer. Additional examples ofsemiconductor fabrication processes include, but are not limited to,chemical-mechanical polishing, etch, deposition, and ion implantation.Multiple semiconductor devices may be fabricated on a singlesemiconductor wafer and then separated into individual semiconductordevices.

Metrology processes are used at various steps during a semiconductormanufacturing process to detect defects on wafers to promote higheryield. A number of metrology based techniques including scatterometry,diffractometry, and reflectometry implementations and associatedanalysis algorithms are commonly used to characterize criticaldimensions, film thicknesses, composition and other parameters ofnanoscale structures.

Traditionally, scatterometry critical dimension measurements areperformed on targets consisting of thin films and/or repeated periodicstructures. During device fabrication, these films and periodicstructures typically represent the actual device geometry and materialstructure or an intermediate design. As devices (e.g., logic and memorydevices) move toward smaller nanometer-scale dimensions,characterization becomes more difficult. Devices incorporating complexthree-dimensional geometry and materials with diverse physicalproperties contribute to characterization difficulty.

Accurate information concerning the material composition and shape ofnanostructures is limited in the process development environment of aleading-edge front-end semiconductor fabrication facility.Scatterometric optical metrology systems rely on accurate geometric anddispersion models to avoid measurement bias. With limited knowledge ofmaterial composition and shape of nanostructures available apriori,measurement recipe development and validation is a slow and tediousprocess. For example, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy(TEM) images are used to guide optical scatterometry model development,but TEM imaging is slow and destructive.

Scatterometric optical metrology tools utilizing infrared to visiblelight measure zero-order diffraction signals from sub-wavelengthstructures. As device critical dimensions continue to shrinkscatterometric optical metrology sensitivity and capability isdecreasing. Furthermore, when absorbing materials are present in thestructure under measurement, penetration and scattering of illuminationlight in the optical region (e.g., 0.5-10 ev) limits the utility ofconventional optical metrology systems.

Similarly, electron beam based metrology systems struggle to penetratesemiconductor structures due to absorption and scattering of theilluminating, backscattered, and secondary emission electrons.

Atomic force microscopes (AFM) and scanning-tunneling microscopes (STM)are able to achieve atomic resolution, but they can only probe thesurface of the specimen. In addition, AFM and STM microscopes requirelong scanning times that make these technologies impractical in a highvolume manufacturing (HVM) setting.

Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) achieve intermediate resolutionlevels, but are unable to penetrate structures to sufficient depth.Thus, high-aspect ratio holes are not characterized well. In addition,the required charging of the specimen has an adverse effect on imagingperformance.

X-ray based scatterometry systems have shown promise to addresschallenging measurement applications. For example, Transmission,Small-Angle X-Ray Scatterometry (T-SAXS) systems employing photons at ahard X-ray energy level (>15 keV), Grazing Incidence, Small-Angle X-RayScatterometry (GI-SAXS) systems operating near the critical angles forreflection with photon energies above 8 keV, and Reflective Small AngleX-ray Scatterometry (RSAXS) systems employing photons in a soft x-ray(SXR) region (80-5,000 eV) have exhibited the potential to addressdifferent metrology applications within the semiconductor industry.

In some embodiments, RSAXS systems offer a unique combination ofsensitivity and speed. Nominal grazing angles of incidence in a rangebetween 5 and 20 degrees offers the flexibility to select optimal anglesof incidence to achieve a desired penetration into the structure undermeasurement and maximize measurement information content with a smallbeam spot size (e.g., less than 50 μm).

Although X-ray based metrology systems offer attractive solutions tocurrent and future semiconductor measurement applications, thedevelopment of a reliable and cost effective X-ray illumination sourcehas been challenging. A significant amount of effort has been expendedto develop various versions of a Laser Produced Plasma (LPP) X-rayillumination source. In an LPP X-ray illumination source, a targetmaterial is irradiated by an excitation source in a vacuum chamber toproduce plasma. In some examples, the excitation source is a pulsedlaser beam.

In general, the peak emission observed in optically thin plasmas ofrelatively high atomic number (high-Z) elements in the ExtremeUltraviolet (EUV) and Soft X-Ray (SXR) spectral regions follows aquasi-Moseley's law as described by H. Ohashi, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett.106, 169903, 2015, the content of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. The peak wavelength, λ_(peak), is illustratedin equation (1), where R_(∞) is the Rydberg constant and Z is the atomicnumber of the element undergoing stimulated emission.λ_(peak)=(2.186±12.09)/R _(∞)[Z—(23.23±2.87)]^(−(1.52±0.12))  (1)

As the atomic number, Z, increases from Z=50 (Tin) to Z=83 (Bismuth),the emission peak shifts from 13.5 nm to 4.0 nm. A Tin based LPPillumination source offers optimal conversion efficiency for EUVlithography at 13.5 nanometers. In addition, light generated by a Tinbased LPP illumination source is efficiently reflected byMolybdenum/Silicon Multi-Layer Mirrors (MLM). As a result, a LPP targetelement having a relatively high atomic number is typically selected forEUV applications. A Tin based illumination source is currently employedby the leading manufacturer of EUV lithography tools (ASML).

In some embodiments, EUV or SXR radiation is produced by electricaldischarge of tin for EUV lithography or EUV/SXR metrology applications.A plasma is ignited in a gaseous medium between at least two electrodesin a discharge space. The gaseous medium is produced by partialvaporization of Tin by a laser beam from the surface of rotational disksin the discharge space. Additional description is provided in U.S. Pat.No. 7,427,766, the content of which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

Unfortunately, the difficulties associated with debris mitigation andtarget replenishment associated with Tin significantly limit EUV toolavailability and lead to extremely high tool cost. Tin debris depositionon the chamber walls and optical elements of EUV tools is significant.In some examples, hydrogen buffer gas is employed to protect and cleanoptics contaminated by Tin debris. However, implementation of hydrogenbuffer gas gives rise to high cost to address safety issues.

In an attempt to avoid the challenges associated with the use of Tintargets, Xenon (Z=54) has been considered as a suitable LPP target.Inert, cryogenic Xenon ice employed as a LPP target is chemicallyinactive and vaporizes instantly at room temperature. Thus, debrisgenerated by the Xenon LPP target is not deposited on opticalcomponents. Xenon has a series of Unresolved Transition Arrays (UTA) inseveral charge states in the EUV and SXR spectral ranges. Thus, Xenonhas the potential to generate useful emission for lithography andmetrology applications.

In some embodiments, solid Xenon ice target material is formed on thesurface of a drum cooled by liquid nitrogen. A laser pulse irradiates asmall area of solid Xenon target material deposited on the drum. Thedrum is rotated, translated, or both, to present new solid Xenon targetmaterial at the irradiation site. Each laser pulse generates a crater inthe layer of solid Xenon target material. The craters are refilled by areplenishment system that provides new Xenon target material to the drumsurface. Additional description is provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,320,937,8,963,110, 9,422,978, 9,544,984, 9,918,375, and 10,021,773, the contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, a stream of liquid Xenon target material isemployed as an LPP target. In one embodiment, a Xenon liquefier unit isconnected to a Xenon mass flow (gas) system within a vacuum chamber,along with a Xenon recovery unit. The Xenon recovery unit is connectedto the Xenon liquefier unit via a capillary tube. A stream of liquidXenon flows from the Xenon liquefier unit to the Xenon recovery unitthrough the capillary tube. The capillary tube includes an aperture thatexposes the stream of liquid Xenon to a focused laser beam that inducesa plasma emitting EUV/SXR radiation. Additional description is providedin U.S. Pat. No. 8,258,485, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

In some other embodiments, a droplet of liquid Xenon target material isemployed as an LPP target. In one embodiments, Xenon is pressurized andcooled such that it liquefies. The liquid Xenon is pumped through anozzle as a jet. As the jet emerges from the nozzle, it begins to decay.As the jet decays, Xenon droplets are formed. The droplets may be liquidor solid depending on conditions. The droplets travel to a site in avacuum environment where the droplets are irradiated by a laser beam toproduce an EUV/SXR emitting plasma. Additional description is providedin U.S. Pat. No. 9,295,147 and U.S. Patent Publication No.2017/0131129A1, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

Unfortunately, the implementation of a droplet based LPP target, such asTin or Xenon droplets, introduces additional challenges. To reliablystimulate plasma, droplet position stability is critical. For suitableconversion efficiency, the droplets must reach the irradiation locationaccurately to ensure sufficient coupling between the target materialdroplet and the focused laser beam. The environment from the nozzle tothe irradiation site significantly affects position stability. Importantfactors include path length, temperature and pressure conditions alongthe path, and any gas flows along the path. Many of these factors aredifficult to control, which leads to suboptimal LPP illumination sourceperformance.

In addition, as a Xenon liquid jet or sequence of droplets travels, aportion of the Xenon evaporates and generates a Xenon gas cloud aroundthe emission site. Xenon gas strongly absorbs EUV/SXR light leading tohighly inefficient extraction of useable EUV/SXR light from the LPPlight source.

Also, Xenon supply is limited and costly. Xenon is a trace component ofthe atmosphere (87 parts per billion). A complicated and costly airseparation process is required to extract Xenon from the atmosphere. Inresponse, costly recycling equipment is required to recapture as muchXenon as possible from the LPP illumination source environment tominimize Xenon losses.

As a LPP target material, Xenon atoms are highly ionized and excited tovarious energetic ionic states under electron impact or laser field. Oneor more buffer gases, such as Argon, Neon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, andHydrogen, are employed to slow down and eventually stop the energeticXenon ions to prevent etching of the chamber and optical elements. Torecover the Xenon swept away by the buffer gases, the gasses within theLPP chamber are continuously evacuated by vacuum pumps and sent to arare gas recovery unit. The gas recovery unit separates the Xenon fromthe buffer gases and purifies the recovered Xenon using one or more gasseparation technologies.

Unfortunately, a Xenon gas recovery unit is very costly and does notreach 100% recycling efficiency. The long-term cost of ownership (COO)of a tool utilizing a Xenon gas recovery system can be very significant.FIG. 1 depicts an illustration of the annual cost of ownership due tolost Xenon as a function of nominal flow rate of Xenon for a tool incontinuous operation. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the annual cost isplotted for different recovery efficiencies. Plotlines 11, 12, 13, and14 depict the annual costs associated with recovery efficiencies of 98%,98.5%, 99%, and 99.5%, respectively. Each of these recovery efficienciesis very difficult to achieve in practice, yet annual costs remain quitehigh.

Finally, the SXR emission spectrum of Xenon is broadband, similar toother high atomic number elements. The delivery optics employed toextract the SXR illumination from the LPP illumination source anddeliver the SXR illumination to a semiconductor wafer are limited intheir ability to maintain spectral purity and minimize photon flux lossbecause SXR optical elements typically trade off photon flux forspectral purity.

In summary, the semiconductor industry continues to shrink devicedimensions and increase their complexity. To enable efficient processoptimization and yield ramp, new in-line metrology tools are required toprovide process developers with accurate structural information in afast and non-destructive way. X-ray based metrology systems showpromise, but improvements to a LPP illumination source employed toprovide X-rays to the structures under measurement are desired.

SUMMARY

Methods and systems for generating X-ray illumination from a laserproduced plasma employing a liquid sheet jet target are presentedherein. In addition, methods and systems for measuring structural andmaterial characteristics (e.g., material composition, dimensionalcharacteristics of structures and films, etc.) of semiconductorstructures associated with different semiconductor fabrication processesbased on the generated x-ray illumination are also presented.

In some embodiments, the liquid sheet jet LPP light source directs ahighly focused, short duration laser source to a liquid sheet jet targetincluding one or more low atomic number elements. The interaction of thefocused laser pulse with the sheet jet target ignites a plasma. In someembodiments, the liquid sheet jet LPP light source generates multipleline or broadband X-ray illumination in a soft X-ray (SXR) spectralrange, e.g., 10-5,000 electronvolts.

In some embodiments, a liquid sheet jet LPP nozzle is a convergentcapillary nozzle including capillary tubes to transport the liquidtarget material to the exit aperture of the nozzle. In some otherembodiments, a liquid sheet jet LPP nozzle is a convergent nozzle thatuses an open, planar cavity to transport the liquid target material toan exit aperture of the nozzle.

The liquid sheet jet LPP light source is a compact X-ray source with nomoving parts, e.g., no rotating or translating targets. This minimizesthe introduction of vibration into the metrology system. A liquid sheetjet target is a very thin (e.g., less than 10 micrometers thick) sheethaving a relatively large area of lateral extent (e.g., hundreds ofmillimeters in two lateral directions). The large lateral area minimizeslateral stability requirements for target positioning because the targetarea is so large compared to a droplet based target. Similarly,repositioning of the location of the plasma light source is easilyachieved by simply controlling the aim of the pump laser beam torelocate the point of incidence to another location of the sheet. Inaddition, the very thin sheet minimizes plasma debris generationcompared to a droplet based target. Finally, the use of low atomicnumber materials as emission material minimizes cost as there are manylow atomic number materials that are abundantly available in theenvironment (e.g., carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.). Thus, there is noneed to employ a costly rare gas recycle system. These materials caneither be liquefied and employed in their pure form as a sheet jettarget or dissolved in a solvent and employed in a diluted form as thesheet jet target.

In one aspect, RSAXS measurements are performed with x-ray radiationgenerated by a liquid sheet jet LPP illumination source. X-rayillumination radiation emitted from a liquid sheet jet LPP light sourcepasses through a beamline and is focused onto a semiconductor waferunder measurement.

In another further aspect, a liquid sheet jet LPP light source includesa debris management system including a directed buffer gas flow in theplasma chamber and a vacuum pump to evacuate the buffer gases and anycontaminants.

In another further aspect, a liquid sheet jet LPP light source includesa source of magnetic field across a portion of the plasma chamber todrive kinetic ions toward a flow of buffer gas within the plasmachamber. In this manner, the magnetic field facilitates the removal ofkinetic ions by driving the kinetic ions into the flow of buffer gas asthe buffer gas flows through the plasma chamber toward the vacuum pumpemployed to exhaust the buffer gas from the plasma chamber.

In a further aspect, a liquid sheet jet LPP light source includes arecycle system that captures and recycles liquid target material.

In another aspect, an x-ray based metrology system includes multipledetectors to separately detect the zero diffracted order and higherdiffracted orders. In general, any combination of multiple detectors maybe contemplated to detect the zeroth diffraction order and higherdiffraction orders.

In another aspect, an x-ray based metrology system includes a multilayerdiffractive optical structure in the illumination path to filter theX-ray illumination light. In this manner, the need for a vacuum windowin the illumination path is eliminated.

In another aspect, an x-ray based metrology system includes a zone platestructure in the illumination path to refocus excitation light back tothe laser produced plasma source. In this manner, radiation that mightotherwise be dumped is used to excite the plasma.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is not limiting in any way. Other aspects,inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/or processesdescribed herein will become apparent in the non-limiting detaileddescription set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified plot illustrative of a cost associated with Xenonlost during continuous operation of a laser produced plasma (LPP)illumination source.

FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrative of an embodiment of ametrology system including a liquid sheet jet LPP X-ray illuminationsource for measuring characteristics of a specimen in at least one novelaspect.

FIG. 3A is a simplified diagram illustrative of a front view of a liquidsheet jet nozzle in one embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a simplified diagram illustrative of a side view of a liquidsheet jet nozzle in one embodiment.

FIG. 3C is a simplified diagram illustrative of a bottom view of aliquid sheet jet nozzle in one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plot 150 illustrative of a simulation of the stopping rangeof oxygen ions in nitrogen (N₂) gas as a function of energy of theoxygen ions.

FIG. 5 depicts a plot 170 of simulated emission spectra associated witha LPP X-ray illumination source employing Carbon as a liquid sheet jettarget.

FIG. 6 depicts a plot 173 of simulated emission spectra associated witha LPP X-ray illumination source employing Nitrogen as a liquid sheet jettarget.

FIG. 7 depicts a plot 176 of simulated emission spectra associated witha LPP X-ray illumination source employing Oxygen as a liquid sheet jettarget.

FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram illustrative of an exemplary modelbuilding and analysis engine.

FIG. 9 is a simplified diagram illustrative of another embodiment of ametrology system including a liquid sheet jet LPP X-ray illuminationsource for measuring characteristics of a specimen in at least one novelaspect.

FIG. 10 is a simplified diagram illustrative of yet another embodimentof a metrology system including a liquid sheet jet LPP X-rayillumination source for measuring characteristics of a specimen in atleast one novel aspect.

FIG. 11 is a simplified diagram illustrative of yet another embodimentof a metrology system including a liquid sheet jet LPP X-rayillumination source for measuring characteristics of a specimen in atleast one novel aspect.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method of performing measurements of asemiconductor wafer with a metrology system employing a liquid sheet jetLPP X-ray illumination source in accordance with the methods describedherein.

FIG. 13A is a simplified diagram illustrative of a front view of aliquid sheet jet nozzle in another embodiment.

FIG. 13B is a simplified diagram illustrative of a side view of a liquidsheet jet nozzle in another embodiment.

FIG. 13C is a simplified diagram illustrative of a bottom view of aliquid sheet jet nozzle in another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to background examples and someembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

Methods and systems for generating X-ray illumination from a laserproduced plasma employing a liquid sheet jet target are presentedherein. In addition, methods and systems for measuring structural andmaterial characteristics (e.g., material composition, dimensionalcharacteristics of structures and films, etc.) of semiconductorstructures associated with different semiconductor fabrication processesbased on the generated x-ray illumination are also presented.

In some embodiments, a laser produced plasma (LPP) light sourcegenerates high brilliance (i.e., greater than 10¹³photons/(sec·mm²·mrad²·1% bandwidth)) x-ray illumination. To achievesuch high brightness, the LPP light source directs a highly focused,short duration laser source to a liquid sheet jet target including oneor more low atomic number elements. The interaction of the focused laserpulse with the sheet jet target ignites a plasma. Radiation from theplasma is collected by collection optics and is directed to a specimenunder measurement.

In some embodiments, the liquid sheet jet LPP light source generatesmultiple line or broadband X-ray illumination in a soft X-ray (SXR)spectral range, e.g., 10-5,000 electronvolts. A SXR spectral range, asdefined herein, may include all or portions of a vacuum ultraviolet(VUV) spectral range, an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral range, asoft X-ray range, and a hard X-ray range as defined in other literature.In some embodiments, the liquid sheet jet target includes a relativelylow atomic number material, e.g., Z<55, Z<37, or Z<19.

The liquid sheet jet LPP light source is a compact X-ray source with nomoving parts, e.g., no rotating or translating targets. This minimizesthe introduction of vibration into the metrology system. A liquid sheetjet target is a very thin (e.g., less than 10 micrometers thick) sheethaving a relatively large area of lateral extent (e.g., hundreds ofmillimeters in two lateral directions). The large lateral area minimizeslateral stability requirements for target positioning because the targetarea is so large compared to a droplet based target. Similarly,repositioning of the location of the plasma light source is easilyachieved by simply controlling the aim of the pump laser beam torelocate the point of incidence to another location of the sheet. Inaddition, the very thin sheet minimizes plasma debris generationcompared to a droplet based target. Finally, the use of low atomicnumber materials as emission material minimizes cost as there are manylow atomic number materials that are abundantly available in theenvironment (e.g., carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.). Thus, there is noneed to employ a costly rare gas recycle system. These materials caneither be liquefied and employed in their pure form as a sheet jettarget or dissolved in a solvent and employed in a diluted form as thesheet jet target.

FIG. 2 depicts an x-ray based metrology system 100 in one embodiment. Byway of non-limiting example, x-ray based metrology system 100 isconfigured as a Reflective, Small-Angle X-ray Scatterometry (RSAXS)system. In some embodiments, RSAXS measurements are performed at one ormore wavelengths within the soft x-ray (SXR) region (e.g., 10-5000 eV)at nominal grazing angles of incidence in the range of 1-45 degrees.Grazing angles for a particular measurement application are selected toachieve a desired penetration into the structure under measurement andmaximize measurement information content with a small beam spot size(e.g., less than 50 micrometers). An RSAXS system, such as metrologysystem 100, enables measurement of parameters of interest includingcritical dimensions, overlay, and edge placement errors. SXRillumination enables overlay measurements on design-rule targets becausethe illumination wavelength(s) are shorter than the period of themeasured structures. This provides a significant benefit over existingtechnology where overlay is measured on targets that are larger than thedesign rule. Use of SXR wavelengths permits target design at processdesign rules, i.e., no “non-zero offsets”. In some embodiments, anoverlay metrology target for RSAXS measurements may be employed tomeasure both overlay and critical dimensions. This also enablesmeasurements of Edge Placement Errors (EPE), such as end lineshortening, line to contact distance, etc.

In one aspect, RSAXS measurements are performed with x-ray radiationgenerated by a liquid sheet jet LPP illumination source. As depicted inFIG. 2, x-ray based metrology system 100 includes a liquid sheet jet LPPlight source 101, a beamline 200, and a wafer metrology subsystem 300.X-ray illumination radiation emitted from liquid sheet jet LPP lightsource 101 passes through beamline 200 and is focused onto asemiconductor wafer 306. X-ray radiation is collected from semiconductorwafer 306 in response to the incident X-ray illumination radiation anddetected. Estimates of values of one or more parameters of interestcharacterizing one or more structures 307 disposed on semiconductorwafer 306 are made based on the detected X-ray radiation.

As depicted in FIG. 2, liquid sheet jet LPP light source 101 includes aliquid sheet jet nozzle 102 operating within a plasma chamber 125. Aflow 124 of target material is supplied to liquid sheet jet nozzle 102.A number of leaf-shaped sheets of target material are maintained at theoutput of the liquid sheet jet nozzle. A pulsed laser illuminationsource 114 emits a sequence of pulses of excitation (pump) lightdirected toward a sheet of target material maintained by the liquidsheet jet. As depicted in FIG. 2, the excitation light passes through abeam expander 115, one or more focusing optical elements 116, andoptical window 117 to reach the sheet jet emitted by nozzle 102. Theinteraction of a pulse of excitation light with the sheet of targetmaterial causes the sheet to ionize to form a plasma 103 that emits anx-ray illumination light with very high brightness. In a preferredembodiment, the brilliance of plasma 103 is greater than 10¹³photons/(sec)·(mm2)·(mrad2)·(1% bandwidth).

Focusing optical element 116 focuses the excitation light onto a sheetof target material over a very small spot size. In some embodiments, theexcitation light is focused onto the sheet of target material with aspot size of less than 100 micrometers. In some embodiments, theexcitation light is focused onto the sheet of target material with aspot size of less than 20 micrometers. In a preferred embodiment, theexcitation light is focused onto the sheet of target material with aspot size of less than 10 micrometers. As the spot size of theexcitation light decreases, the spot size of the induced plasmadecreases. In some embodiments, the spot size of plasma 103 is less than400 micrometers. In some embodiments, the spot size of plasma 103 isless than 100 micrometers. In some embodiments, the spot size of plasma103 is less than 20 micrometers.

In some embodiments, pulsed laser illumination source 114 is a Ytterbium(Yb) based solid state laser. In some other embodiments, pulsed laserillumination source 114 is a Neodymium (Nb) based solid state laser. Insome embodiments, pulse laser illumination source 114 is a picosecondlaser operating, for example, at a wavelength in the IR range (e.g., 1micron). In some embodiments, the excitation light has a beam qualityfactor M2<2.0, a pulse duration in a range from 5 picoseconds to 500picoseconds, a pulse energy in a range from 10 milliJoules to 500milliJoules, a peak power in a range from 50 megawatts to 1,000megawatts, laser intensity at focus maintained at 10¹³ W/cm² or higher,and a contrast ratio greater than 200.

In some embodiments, a liquid sheet jet LPP nozzle is a convergentcapillary nozzle including capillary tubes to transport the liquidtarget material to the exit aperture of the nozzle. FIG. 3A depicts afront view of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 where the X-direction ishorizontal across the drawing page, the Z-direction is vertical up anddown the drawing page, and the Y-direction is perpendicular to thedrawing page and positive into the drawing page. As depicted in FIG. 3A,liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 includes a nozzle body 143, an inlet orifice146, and two separate capillary channels 140A and 140B. Liquid targetmaterial is received at inlet orifice 146 and flows into both capillarychannels 140A and 140B. The capillary channels 140A and 140B are routedaway from one another and then return back toward each other at aconvergence angle, θ. The terminal ends, i.e., tips, of capillarychannels 140A and 140B are located at the exit aperture 145 of liquidsheet jet nozzle 102. The terminal ends of capillary channels 140A and140B are spaced apart by a small distance, S, in the X-direction.

FIG. 3B depicts a side view of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 where theY-direction is horizontal across the drawing page, the Z-direction isvertical up and down the drawing page, and the X-direction isperpendicular to the drawing page and positive out of the drawing page.FIG. 3C depicts a bottom view of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 where theX-direction is horizontal across the drawing page, the Y-direction isvertical up and down the drawing page, and the Z-direction isperpendicular to the drawing page and positive into the drawing page. Asdepicted in FIG. 3C, the exit aperture 145 includes the terminal ends ofboth capillaries 140A and 140B, each having a diameter, D, and spacedapart by a distance, S, in the X-direction.

As liquid target material exits capillary channels 140A and 140B at exitaperture 145, the flows through each capillary channel merge beyond theexit aperture (i.e., outside nozzle 102) to generate a cascadingsequence of leaf shaped sheets 141, which ultimately decompose into asequence of droplets 142. FIGS. 3A and 3B are provided for illustrationas the number and scale of leaf shaped sheets depends on the propertiesof the liquid target material, the flow conditions, the geometry ofcapillary channels 140A and 140B, and the geometry of exit orifice 145.As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the flows through each capillarychannel merge to generate leaf shaped sheet 141A of liquid targetmaterial oriented in the YZ plane as depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B. Afterleaf shaped sheet 141A, the flow transitions to another, smaller leafshaped sheet 141B oriented in the XZ plane, perpendicular to leaf shapedsheet 141A. After leaf shaped sheet 141B, the flow transitions to yetanother, smaller leaf shaped sheet 141C oriented in the YZ plane,perpendicular to leaf shaped sheet 141B. After leaf shaped sheet 141C,the flow transitions to yet another, smaller leaf shaped sheet 141Doriented in the XZ plane, perpendicular to leaf shaped sheet 141C. Afterleaf shaped sheet 141D, the flow transitions to yet another, smallerleaf shaped sheet 141E oriented in the YZ plane, perpendicular to leafshaped sheet 141D. After leaf shaped sheet 141E, the flow transitions toa sequence of droplets 142, which are ultimately collected in liquidtrap 105 as described with reference to FIG. 2. As depicted in FIGS. 3Aand 3B, excitation light 147 is focused onto the first leaf shaped sheet141A of target material, a distance, B, from the exit aperture 145. Insome other embodiments, excitation light 147 is focused onto the secondleaf shaped sheet 141B of target material to increase the distancebetween the plasma location and the exit aperture 145 to prevent foulingexit aperture 145. In general, excitation light 147 may be focused atany distance, B, from the exit aperture 145 at any suitable leaf shapedsheet. In addition, it is preferred to orient the plane of the leafshaped sheet under illumination in a direction perpendicular to a planeof incidence of excitation light 147.

In general, the leaf shaped structure breaks down as the pulse ofexcitation light is incident. In several microseconds, e.g., 10microseconds) after the laser pulse arrives, the leaf shaped structureis reestablished, while a conical sheet and droplet spray obscure theline of sight from the pulsed laser excitation source and sheet jet.After another period of time passes, e.g., 50 microseconds to 500microseconds, the droplet spray is cleared and the newly formed leafstructure is available for excitation by another pulse of excitationlight.

Thinner sheet jets minimize plasma debris, however thinner sheet jetsare more difficult to generate and sustain in practice. Thicker sheetjets offer higher conversion efficiency, but as the thickness increasesthe jet becomes more opaque to X-ray illumination generated within thejet. These losses overtake the conversion efficiency advantage as thethickness becomes greater than a few micrometers, e.g., greater than 10micrometers.

In general, the overlap between the two flows that merge at the exitaperture ultimately defines the minimum thickness of the sheet. Aportion of the flows coalesce to form the thin sheet in the middle ofthe leaf shaped flow structure, while the portion of the flows that donot coalesce form the perimeter of the leaf shaped flow structure. Theedges of the leaf shapes structure are relatively thick compared to thethin film at the center of the leaf shaped structure. Subsequentsecondary and higher-order leaf shaped structures form below the primarysheet. These sheets are progressively thicker in the middle and smallerin lateral extent than the first leaf shaped structure. Ultimately, thesheet disintegrates into a droplet spray at the onset ofPlateau-Rayleigh instability.

In some other embodiments, a liquid sheet jet LPP nozzle is a convergentnozzle that uses an open, planar cavity to transport the liquid targetmaterial to an exit aperture of the nozzle. FIG. 13A depicts a frontview of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 where the X-direction is horizontalacross the drawing page, the Z-direction is vertical up and down thedrawing page, and the Y-direction is perpendicular to the drawing pageand positive into the drawing page. As depicted in FIG. 13A, liquidsheet jet nozzle 102 includes a nozzle body 163, an inlet orifice 166,and a thin, planar cavity, i.e., a chamber having two relatively largelateral dimensions and a relatively small thickness dimension orthogonalto both lateral dimensions. Liquid target material is received at inletorifice 166 and flows into cavity 160. The cavity is shaped such thatafter widening in one of the lateral dimensions, it converges toward thebottom of the cavity at a convergence angle, θ. The cavity 160terminates at an exit orifice 165 having a rectangular shape at thebottom of nozzle 102.

FIG. 13B depicts a side view of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 where theY-direction is horizontal across the drawing page, the Z-direction isvertical up and down the drawing page, and the X-direction isperpendicular to the drawing page and positive out of the drawing page.FIG. 13C depicts a bottom view of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102 where theX-direction is horizontal across the drawing page, the Y-direction isvertical up and down the drawing page, and the Z-direction isperpendicular to the drawing page and positive into the drawing page. Asdepicted in FIG. 13C, the exit aperture 165 has width, W, in theY-direction and a length, L, in the X-direction. In some embodiments,the thickness of cavity 160 is approximately the same as the aperturewidth, W.

The converging flow of liquid target material exiting exit aperture 145generates a sequence of leaf shaped sheets 161, which ultimatelydecompose into a sequence of droplets 162. FIGS. 13A and 13B areprovided for illustration as the number and scale of leaf shaped sheetsdepends on the properties of the liquid target material, the flowconditions, the geometry of cavity 160, and the geometry of exitaperture 165. As illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the flow through exitaperture 165 generates leaf shaped sheet 161A of liquid target materialoriented in the YZ plane as depicted in FIGS. 13A and 13B. After leafshaped sheet 161A, the flow transitions to another, smaller leaf shapedsheet 161B oriented in the XZ plane, perpendicular to leaf shaped sheet161A. After leaf shaped sheet 161B, the flow transitions to yet another,smaller leaf shaped sheet 161C oriented in the YZ plane, perpendicularto leaf shaped sheet 161B. After leaf shaped sheet 161C, the flowtransitions to yet another, smaller leaf shaped sheet 161D oriented inthe XZ plane, perpendicular to leaf shaped sheet 161C. After leaf shapedsheet 161D, the flow transitions to yet another, smaller leaf shapedsheet 161E oriented in the YZ plane, perpendicular to leaf shaped sheet161D. After leaf shaped sheet 161E, the flow transitions to a sequenceof droplets 162, which are ultimately collected in liquid trap 105 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 2. As depicted in FIGS. 13A and 13B,excitation light 147 is focused onto the first leaf shaped sheet 161A oftarget material, a distance, B, from exit aperture 165. In some otherembodiments, excitation light 147 is focused onto the second leaf shapedsheet 161B of target material to increase the distance between theplasma location and the exit aperture 165 to prevent fouling exitaperture 165. In general, excitation light 147 may be focused at anydistance, B, from the exit aperture 165 at any suitable leaf shapedsheet. In addition, it is preferred to orient the plane of the leafshaped sheet under illumination in a direction perpendicular to a planeof incidence of excitation light 147.

For a given target material, the performance of a liquid sheet jet LPPx-ray source depends on several physical parameters. Higher jet speedenables more frequent excitation with the laser source and more lightoutput. However, jet speed is limited by turbulence induced at high flowrates. A larger sheet jet in the lateral dimensions minimizes heat andplasma damage to the nozzle. A thinner sheet jet minimizes vacuumpumping load and debris generated by the plasma. In some embodiments,the linear flow rate of the sheet jet is in a range between 5 and 50meters/second, distance between exit aperture and incidence ofexcitation light in a range from 1 centimeter to 10 centimeters, andthickness of the liquid sheet at the location of incidence of theexcitation light in a range from 1 micrometer to 5 micrometers. Theparameters adjusted to achieve these performance objectives includebacking pressure, nozzle geometry, and fluid properties. For a giventarget material, a fluid property (e.g., viscosity) of the targetmaterial is adjusted by controlling the temperature of the liquid in arange from −100 degrees Centigrade to 40 degrees Centigrade. Givenreasonable fluid properties and dimensions as described herein, a jetbacking pressure in a range from 0.1 bar to 20 bar drives a jet volumeflow rate in a range from 10 milliliters/minute to 100milliliters/minute. Similarly, the convergence angle ranges from 90 to140 degrees and the width and length of the exit aperture ranges from 20micrometers to 140 micrometers for a convergent cavity nozzle and theconvergence angle ranges from 90 to 140 degrees and the capillarydiameter and spacing ranges from 20 micrometers to 140 micrometers for aconvergent capillary nozzle.

In general, a liquid sheet jet LPP X-ray illumination source may employany suitable material or combination of materials as a liquid sheet jettarget. However, it is preferred to employ materials comprising elementshaving relatively low atomic number. In some embodiments, a liquid sheetjet target includes one or more materials each comprising one or moreelements each having an atomic number less than 19 (Z<19). In someembodiments, a liquid sheet jet target includes Krypton, Xenon, or both.A liquid sheet jet target is maintained in liquid phase by providingsuitable pressure and temperature conditions. In some embodiments, aliquid sheet jet target includes a liquid solvent that maintains anothermaterial in solution. In some of these embodiments, the solvent includesone or more materials each comprising one or more elements each havingan atomic number less than 19 (Z<19). By way of non-limiting example,suitable sheet jet target materials include Helium, Neon, Argon,Krypton, Xenon, alcohol, water, hydrocarbons, CO₂, CO, N₂, O₂, F₂,H₂O₂/urea, ammonium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide,aluminum hydroxide, silicon hydroxide (e.g., hydroxides in form of sodassuch as NaOH (caustic soda), Na₂CO₃ (washing soda), NaHCO₃ (bakingsoda)), salts (e.g., fluoride salts, chloride salts dissolvable inliquid solvent), and any low atomic number material (Z<19) soluble in aliquid solvent.

FIG. 5 depicts a plot 170 of simulated emission spectra associated withthe spectral contribution of Carbon to radiation emitted from a LPPX-ray illumination source employing a target material including Carbonas a component (e.g., CO₂). Plotline 171 depicts an emission spectrumassociated with a plasma temperature of 100 electronvolts. Plotline 172depicts an emission spectrum associated with a plasma temperature of 500electronvolts.

FIG. 6 depicts a plot 173 of simulated emission spectra associated withthe spectral contribution of Nitrogen to radiation emitted from a LPPX-ray illumination source employing a target material including Nitrogenas a component. Plotline 174 depicts an emission spectrum associatedwith a plasma temperature of 100 electronvolts. Plotline 175 depicts anemission spectrum associated with a plasma temperature of 500electronvolts.

FIG. 7 depicts a plot 176 of simulated emission spectra associated withthe spectral contribution of Oxygen to radiation emitted from a LPPX-ray illumination source employing a target material including Oxygenas a component (e.g., CO₂). Plotline 177 depicts an emission spectrumassociated with a plasma temperature of 100 electronvolts. Plotline 178depicts an emission spectrum associated with a plasma temperature of 500electronvolts.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, strong line emissions over a broad range ofplasma temperatures are present for all of these low atomic numbermaterials. Furthermore, the line emissions are well within thereflectivity bandwidth of MLM optics. As a result, it is expected thatthe spectral purity of a low atomic number liquid sheet jet LPP lightsource should be significantly better compared to an LPP light sourceemploying a Tin based or Xenon based target material.

In another further aspect, a liquid sheet jet LPP light source includesa debris management system including a directed buffer gas flow in theplasma chamber and a vacuum pump to evacuate the buffer gases and anycontaminants. As depicted in FIG. 2, plasma chamber 125 includes one ormore walls that contain a flow of buffer gas 121 within the plasmachamber. The buffer gas stops high kinetic energy ions and neutrals fromdepositing on sensitive optical elements in proximity to plasma 103. Asdepicted in FIG. 2, a flow of buffer gas 119 is distributed withinplasma chamber 125 by one or more gas cones 120. In some embodiments,each gas cone 120 directs high-speed longitudinal gas flow toward thesource of the debris, i.e., plasma 103, to prevent debris from reachingone or more optical elements. In some embodiments, one or more gas conesare placed before window 117, beamline 200, and flux monitor 118. Insome embodiments, a flow of buffer gas is provided around the locationof plasma 103 to promote flow of contaminants away from the immediatevicinity of plasma 103. Additional description of debris mitigationtechniques including gas cones is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 10,101,664,the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. As depicted in FIG. 2, a vacuum pump 122 is employed toevacuate the flow of contaminated buffer gas 121 from plasma chamber125. The evacuated materials 123 are exhausted from the system withoutthe need to recycle buffer gas material or target material evacuated byvacuum pump 122 because these materials are low cost.

FIG. 4 depicts a plot 150 illustrative of the stopping range of oxygenions in nitrogen (N₂) gas as a function of energy of the oxygen ions.Plotline 151 depicts the average stopping range associated with stoppingeach of an ensemble of oxygen ions at the each ion energy.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, oxygen ions having an initial kinetic energy,i.e., ion energy, of 30 kiloelectronvolts require a stopping range of 30millibar-centimeters in a nitrogen buffer gas. For example, nitrogenbuffer gas maintained at 3 millibars will stop oxygen ions havinginitial kinetic energy up to 30 kiloelectronvolts over a path length of10 centimeters with high probability. In some embodiments, a distancebetween a window of the plasma chamber 125 and the plasma 103 is atleast 10 centimeters.

In another further aspect, a liquid sheet jet LPP light source includesa source of magnetic field across a portion of the plasma chamber todrive kinetic ions toward a flow of buffer gas within the plasmachamber. In this manner, the magnetic field facilitates the removal ofkinetic ions by driving the kinetic ions into the flow of buffer gas asthe buffer gas flows through the plasma chamber toward the vacuum pumpemployed to exhaust the buffer gas from the plasma chamber. In someexamples a set of permanent magnets, electromagnets, etc., is disposedacross the field of buffer gas flow to generate the magnetic field thatdrives the ions into the flow of buffer gas before evacuation.

In a further aspect, a liquid sheet jet LPP light source includes arecycle system that captures and recycles liquid target material. FIG. 2depicts a liquid trap 105 located at the bottom of plasma chamber 125.Liquid trap 105 includes an inlet orifice 104. After the liquid sheetjet decomposes into a liquid stream or sequence of droplets, the liquidtarget material enters liquid trap 105 through inlet orifice 104. Liquidtrap 105 is pumped by a vacuum pump 106, e.g., a turbo pump, to exhaustvapors 107 generated by evaporation from the liquid target material.Vacuum pump 106 prevents pressure from building within liquid trap 105that might prevent the liquid target material from entering inletorifice 104. A cryogenic cooler 126 is located near the bottom of liquidtrap 105 to chill the liquid target material an minimize evaporativelosses. Coolant 108 flows into cryogenic cooler 125, where it absorbsheat and exits the cooler as coolant flow 109 at higher temperature. Insome examples, cryogenic cooler 125 maintains the liquid target materialat a temperature that is at least 100 degrees Centigrade less than roomtemperature. The trapped liquid target material 110 pools at the bottomof liquid trap 105 where it is drained from the bottom of the liquidtrap 105. The liquid target material passes through a filter 111 and ispressurized by a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) pump 112.A pulse damper 113 is located near the output of HPLC pump 112 to removeany high frequency pressure ripple that might be introduced by the HPLCpump 112. A flow of pressurized liquid target material 124 is thendelivered at the input of liquid sheet jet nozzle 102.

As depicted in FIG. 2, X-ray illumination light emitted by plasma 103exits plasma chamber 125, passes through beamline 200 and enters wafermetrology subsystem 300. In general, the X-ray illumination path fromplasma 103 to wafer 306 includes many illumination controlling elementsto shape, direct, and filter the X-ray illumination light. In someembodiments, an energy filter is included in the illumination path toselect the desired beam energy. In some embodiments, one or more opticalelements are located in the illumination path to control beamdivergence, angle of incidence, azimuth angle, or any combinationthereof. In some embodiments, a vacuum window is located in theillumination path to separate the environment of the plasma chamber 125from the environment of the wafer metrology subsystem 300. In some ofthese embodiments, the vacuum window material, one or more filmsdeposited on the vacuum window, or both, are selected to filter theenergy of the X-ray illumination light passing through the vacuumwindow. In some embodiments, one or more optical elements are located inthe illumination path to magnify or de-magnify the X-ray illuminationlight beam. In some embodiments, a diffraction grating structure isfabricated on a surface of one or more illumination optical elements toenhance the spectral purity of the X-ray illumination light.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, X-ray illumination light emittedby plasma 103 enters beamline 200 and passes through pneumatic gatevalve 201A, vacuum window 202, aperture system 203, vacuum windowmonitoring and safety device 204, and pneumatic gate valve 201B.Pneumatic gate valves 201A and 201B are located on either end ofbeamline 200. During metrology system operation, the pneumatic gatevalves 201A and 201B remain open. However, in situations where isolationbetween the plasma chamber 125 and the metrology chamber 311 is desired,one or more of pneumatic gate valves 201A and 201B are closed. When bothpneumatic gate valves 201A and 201B are closed, a beamline chamber,environmentally isolated from both the plasma chamber 125 and themetrology chamber 311, is formed.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, a vacuum window 202 is located inthe illumination path between pneumatic gate valves 201A and 201B toseparate the vacuum environment of the plasma chamber 125 from themetrology chamber 311. In one embodiment, the vacuum window 202 includesa thin coating to block infrared wavelengths generated by the pulsedlaser illumination source 114 from reaching metrology subsystem 300.

Aperture system 203 controls the x-ray illumination beam numericalaperture, nominal grazing angle of incidence (AOI), and azimuth angle atwafer 306. In some embodiments, aperture system 203 is a four bladeprogrammable aperture device. In some embodiments, computing system 130communicated control commands (not shown) to aperture system 203 tocontrol the position of each of the four blades with respect to theX-ray illumination beam to achieve a desired beam numerical aperture,nominal grazing angle of incidence (AOI), and azimuth angle at wafer306.

In general, an RSAX metrology system (e.g., metrology system 100)includes one or more beam slits or apertures to shape the x-rayillumination beam incident on wafer 306 and selectively block a portionof illumination light that would otherwise illuminate a metrology targetunder measurement. One or more beam slits define the beam size and shapesuch that the x-ray illumination spot fits within the area of themetrology target under measurement. In addition, one or more beam slitsdefine illumination beam divergence to minimize overlap of diffractionorders on the detector.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a vacuum window monitoring and safety device204 is located across beamline 200 between vacuum window 202 andmetrology chamber 300. Vacuum window monitoring and safety device 204monitors the integrity of vacuum window 202. If vacuum window 202mechanically fails, i.e., shatters or otherwise fractures into one ormore pieces, the vacuum window monitoring and safety device 204 quicklycloses the space across beam line 200 to capture any fragments of vacuumwindow 202 and prevent fragments from contaminating metrology chamber300. In some embodiments, vacuum window monitoring and safety device 204includes a fast mechanical shutter or pneumatic actuator to quicklyclose any space across beamline 200. In some embodiments, activation ofvacuum window monitoring and safety device 204 also triggers pneumaticgate valves 201A and 201B to close to offer additional protection.However, due to relatively large mass, it may require more time forpneumatic gate vales 201A and 201B to fully close and isolate thebeamline chamber.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, X-ray illumination light enteringmetrology subsystem 300 from beamline 200 is incident on ellipsoidmirror 303. In some embodiments, ellipsoid mirror 303 images the X-rayillumination source spot onto a metrology target 307 disposed on wafer306 with a de-magnification factor in a range from 0.5 to 0.1 (i.e.,project an image of the source onto the wafer that is ½ to 1/10 thesource size). In one embodiment, an RSAXS system as described hereinemploys an X-ray illumination source having a source area characterizedby a lateral dimension of 20 micrometers or less (i.e., source size is20 micrometers or smaller) and a focusing mirror having ade-magnification factor of 0.1. In this embodiment, the focusing mirrorprojects illumination onto wafer 306 with an incident illumination spotsize of two micrometers or less.

The X-ray illumination source spot is located at one foci of ellipsoidmirror 303 and metrology target 307 is located at another foci ofellipsoid mirror 303. Ellipsoid mirror 303 includes a Membrane-mirrorLight Modulator (MLM) with graded thickness to compensate for the changeof grazing angle of incidence across the surface of ellipsoid mirror303. The clear aperture of ellipsoid mirror 303 defines the maximumNumerical Aperture (NA) 301 from the X-ray illumination source spot andthe maximum NA 305 to wafer 306. By control of aperture system 203, thegrazing AOI, NA, and azimuth angle to wafer 306 may be scanned withinthe maximum NA cone 305. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates NA 304 withinmaximum NA cone 305.

In general, focusing optics such as elliptical mirror 303 collect sourceemission and select one or more discrete wavelengths or spectral bands,and focus the selected light onto wafer 306 at nominal grazing angles ofincidence in the range 1-45 degrees.

In some embodiments, the focusing optics include graded multi-layersthat select desired wavelengths or ranges of wavelengths for projectiononto wafer 306. In some examples, focusing optics include a gradedmulti-layer structure (e.g., layers or coatings) that select onewavelength and project the selected wavelength onto wafer 306 over arange of angles of incidence. In some examples, focusing optics includea graded multi-layer structure that selects a range of wavelengths andprojects the selected wavelengths onto wafer 306 over one angle ofincidence. In some examples, focusing optics include a gradedmulti-layer structure that selects a range of wavelengths and projectsthe selected wavelengths onto wafer 306 over a range of angles ofincidence.

Graded multi-layered optics are preferred to minimize loss of light thatoccurs when single layer grating structures are too deep. In general,multi-layer optics select reflected wavelengths. The spectral bandwidthof the selected wavelengths optimizes flux provided to wafer 306,information content in the measured diffracted orders, and preventsdegradation of signal through angular dispersion and diffraction peakoverlap at the detector. In addition, graded multi-layer optics areemployed to control divergence. Angular divergence at each wavelength isoptimized for flux and minimal spatial overlap at the detector.

In some examples, graded multi-layer optics select wavelengths toenhance contrast and information content of diffraction signals fromspecific material interfaces or structural dimensions. For example, theselected wavelengths may be chosen to span element-specific resonanceregions (e.g., Silicon K-edge, Nitrogen, Oxygen K-edge, etc.). Inaddition, in these examples, the illumination source may also be tunedto maximize flux in the selected spectral region (e.g., HHG spectraltuning, LPP laser tuning, etc.)

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, X-ray based metrology system 100includes a wafer positioning system 320 to position and orient wafer 306with respect to the incident X-ray illumination. In some embodiments,wafer positioning system 320 is configured to rotate wafer 306 toperform angle resolved measurements of wafer 306 over any number oflocations on the surface of wafer 306. In one example, computing system130 communicates command signals (not shown) to a motion controller ofwafer positioning system 320 that indicate the desired position andorientation of wafer 306. In response, the motion controller generatescommand signals to the various actuators of wafer positioning system 320to achieve the desired position and orientation of wafer 306.

In some embodiments, metrology system 100 includes one or morecollection optical elements that collect light from wafer 306 and directat least a portion of the collected light to detector 310. In someembodiments, one or more aperture elements, e.g., slits, are located inthe x-ray collection path to block some of the reflected light, one ormore diffracted orders. In some embodiments, one or more spatialattenuators are located in the collection path to selectively attenuate(i.e., reduce the intensity) some of the reflected light, e.g.,selectively reduce the intensity of one or more diffracted orders. Inthe embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, a spatial attenuator 309 is locatedin a portion of the collection path associated with the zeroth order. Inthis manner, spatial attenuator 309 equalizes the intensity of thezeroth diffracted order and the higher diffraction orders beforedetection by detector 310. It may be advantageous to attenuate theintensity of the zeroth order relative to higher diffracted orders toavoid saturating detector 310 when the intensity of the zeroth order issignificantly greater than any of the higher diffracted orders. In otherembodiments, a beam block is employed to block the zero order to preventundesirable flare across the photosensitive surface of the detector dueto strong zero order reflection.

Metrology system 100 also includes one or more detectors to measure theintensity, energy, wavelength, etc., associated with the diffractedorders. In some embodiments, detector 310 detects diffracted light atmultiple wavelengths and angles of incidence. In some embodiments, theposition, orientation, or both, of detector 310 is controlled to capturediffracted light from metrology target 307.

As depicted in FIG. 2, X-ray detector 310 detects x-ray radiationscattered from wafer 306 and generates output signals 135 indicative ofproperties of wafer 306 that are sensitive to the incident x-rayradiation in accordance with a RSAXS measurement modality. In someembodiments, scattered x-rays are collected by x-ray detector 310 whilespecimen positioning system 320 locates and orients wafer 306 to produceangularly resolved scattered x-rays.

In some embodiments, a RSAXS system includes one or more photon countingdetectors with high dynamic range (e.g., greater than 10⁵). In someembodiments, a single photon counting detector detects the position andnumber of detected photons.

In some embodiments, the x-ray detector resolves one or more x-rayphoton energies and produces signals for each x-ray energy componentindicative of properties of the specimen. In some embodiments, the x-raydetector 310 includes any of a CCD array, a microchannel plate, aphotodiode array, a microstrip proportional counter, a gas filledproportional counter, a scintillator, or a fluorescent material.

In this manner the X-ray photon interactions within the detector arediscriminated by energy in addition to pixel location and number ofcounts. In some embodiments, the X-ray photon interactions arediscriminated by comparing the energy of the X-ray photon interactionwith a predetermined upper threshold value and a predetermined lowerthreshold value. In one embodiment, this information is communicated tocomputing system 130 via output signals 135 for further processing andstorage.

Diffraction patterns resulting from simultaneous illumination of aperiodic target with multiple illumination wavelengths are separated atthe detector plane due to angular dispersion in diffraction. In theseembodiments, integrating detectors are employed. The diffractionpatterns are measured using area detectors, e.g., vacuum-compatiblebackside CCD or hybrid pixel array detectors. Angular sampling isoptimized for Bragg peak integration. If pixel level model fitting isemployed, angular sampling is optimized for signal information content.Sampling rates are selected to prevent saturation of zero order signals.

In a further aspect, a RSAXS system is employed to determine propertiesof a specimen (e.g., structural parameter values) based on one or morediffraction orders of scattered light. As depicted in FIG. 2, metrologysystem 100 includes a computing system 130 employed to acquire signals135 generated by detector 310 and determine properties of wafer 306based at least in part on the acquired signals 135.

In some examples, metrology based on RSAXS involves determining thedimensions of the sample by the inverse solution of a pre-determinedmeasurement model with the measured data. The measurement model includesa few (on the order of ten) adjustable parameters and is representativeof the geometry and optical properties of the specimen and the opticalproperties of the measurement system. The method of inverse solveincludes, but is not limited to, model based regression, tomography,machine learning, or any combination thereof. In this manner, targetprofile parameters are estimated by solving for values of aparameterized measurement model that minimize errors between themeasured scattered x-ray intensities and modeled results.

In some examples, it is desirable to perform measurements at largeranges of wavelength, angle of incidence and azimuth angle to increasethe precision and accuracy of measured parameter values. This approachreduces correlations among parameters by extending the number anddiversity of data sets available for analysis.

Measurements of the intensity of diffracted radiation as a function ofillumination wavelength and x-ray incidence angle relative to the wafersurface normal are collected. Information contained in the multiplediffraction orders is typically unique between each model parameterunder consideration. Thus, x-ray scattering yields estimation resultsfor values of parameters of interest with small errors and reducedparameter correlation.

In another further aspect, computing system 130 is configured togenerate a structural model (e.g., geometric model, material model, orcombined geometric and material model) of a measured structure of aspecimen, generate a x-ray scatterometry response model that includes atleast one geometric parameter from the structural model, and resolve atleast one specimen parameter value by performing a fitting analysis ofx-ray scatterometry measurement data with the x-ray scatterometryresponse model. The analysis engine is used to compare the simulatedx-ray scatterometry signals with measured data thereby allowing thedetermination of geometric as well as material properties such aselectron density of the sample. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2,computing system 130 is configured as a model building and analysisengine configured to implement model building and analysis functionalityas described herein.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrative of an exemplary model building andanalysis engine 180 implemented by computing system 130. As depicted inFIG. 8, model building and analysis engine 180 includes a structuralmodel building module 181 that generates a structural model 182 of ameasured structure of a specimen. In some embodiments, structural model182 also includes material properties of the specimen. The structuralmodel 182 is received as input to RSAXS response function buildingmodule 183. RSAXS response function building module 183 generates aRSAXS response function model 184 based at least in part on thestructural model 182. In some examples, the RSAXS response functionmodel 184 is based on x-ray form factors, also known as structurefactors,F({right arrow over (q)})=∫ρ({right arrow over (f)})e^(−i{right arrow over (q)}·{right arrow over (r)}) d{right arrow over(r)}  (2)where F is the form factor, q is the scattering vector, and ρ(r) is theelectron density of the specimen in spherical coordinates. The x-rayscattering intensity is then given byI({right arrow over (q)})=F*F.  (3)

RSAXS response function model 184 is received as input to fittinganalysis module 185. The fitting analysis module 185 compares themodeled RSAXS response with the corresponding measured data to determinegeometric as well as material properties of the specimen.

In some examples, the fitting of modeled data to experimental data isachieved by minimizing a chi-squared value. For example, for RSAXSmeasurements, a chi-squared value can be defined as

$\begin{matrix}{\chi_{SAXS}^{2} = {\frac{1}{N_{SAXS}}\Sigma_{j}^{N_{SAXS}}\frac{\left( {{S_{j}^{{SAXS}\mspace{14mu}{model}}\left( {v_{1},\ldots,v_{L}} \right)} - s_{j}^{{SAXS}\mspace{14mu}{experiment}}} \right)^{2}}{\sigma_{{SAXS},j}^{2}}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

Where, S_(j) ^(SAXS experiment) is the measured RSAXS signals 126 in the“channel” j, where the index j describes a set of system parameters suchas diffraction order, energy, angular coordinate, etc. S_(j)^(SAXS model)/v₁, . . . , v_(L)) is the modeled RSAXS signal S_(j) forthe “channel” j, evaluated for a set of structure (target) parametersv₁, . . . , v_(L), where these parameters describe geometric (CD,sidewall angle, overlay, etc.) and material (electron density, etc.).σ_(SAXS,j) is the uncertainty associated with the jth channel. N_(SAXS)is the total number of channels in the x-ray metrology. L is the numberof parameters characterizing the metrology target.

Equation (4) assumes that the uncertainties associated with differentchannels are uncorrelated. In examples where the uncertaintiesassociated with the different channels are correlated, a covariancebetween the uncertainties, can be calculated. In these examples achi-squared value for RSAXS measurements can be expressed as

$\begin{matrix}{\chi_{SAXS}^{2} = {\frac{1}{N_{SAXS}}\left( {{{\overset{\rightarrow}{S}}_{j}^{SAXS\bullet model}\left( {v_{1},\ldots,v_{M}} \right)} - {\overset{\rightarrow}{S}}_{j}^{SAXS\bullet experiment}} \right)^{T}{V_{SAXS}^{- 1}\left( {{{\overset{\rightarrow}{S}}_{j}^{SAXS\bullet model}\left( {v_{1},\ldots,v_{M}} \right)} - {\overset{\rightarrow}{S}}_{j}^{SAXS\bullet experiment}} \right)}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

where, V_(SAXS) is the covariance matrix of the SAXS channeluncertainties, and T denotes the transpose.

In some examples, fitting analysis module 185 resolves at least onespecimen parameter value by performing a fitting analysis on RSAXSmeasurement data 135 with the RSAXS response model 184. In someexamples, χ_(SAXS) ² is optimized.

As described hereinbefore, the fitting of RSAXS data is achieved byminimization of chi-squared values. However, in general, the fitting ofRSAXS data may be achieved by other functions.

The fitting of RSAXS metrology data is advantageous for any type ofRSAXS technology that provides sensitivity to geometric and/or materialparameters of interest. Specimen parameters can be deterministic (e.g.,CD, SWA, etc.) or statistical (e.g., rms height of sidewall roughness,roughness correlation length, etc.) as long as proper models describingRSAXS beam interaction with the specimen are used.

In general, computing system 130 is configured to access modelparameters in real-time, employing Real Time Critical Dimensioning(RTCD), or it may access libraries of pre-computed models fordetermining a value of at least one specimen parameter value associatedwith the specimen 101. In general, some form of CD-engine may be used toevaluate the difference between assigned CD parameters of a specimen andCD parameters associated with the measured specimen. Exemplary methodsand systems for computing specimen parameter values are described inU.S. Pat. No. 7,826,071, issued on Nov. 2, 2010, to KLA-Tencor Corp.,the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, model building and analysis engine 180 improves theaccuracy of measured parameters by any combination of feed sidewaysanalysis, feed forward analysis, and parallel analysis. Feed sidewaysanalysis refers to taking multiple data sets on different areas of thesame specimen and passing common parameters determined from the firstdataset onto the second dataset for analysis. Feed forward analysisrefers to taking data sets on different specimens and passing commonparameters forward to subsequent analyses using a stepwise copy exactparameter feed forward approach. Parallel analysis refers to theparallel or concurrent application of a non-linear fitting methodologyto multiple datasets where at least one common parameter is coupledduring the fitting.

Multiple tool and structure analysis refers to a feed forward, feedsideways, or parallel analysis based on regression, a look-up table(i.e., “library” matching), or another fitting procedure of multipledatasets. Exemplary methods and systems for multiple tool and structureanalysis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,478,019, issued on Jan. 13,2009, to KLA-Tencor Corp., the entirety of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

In another further aspect, an initial estimate of values of one or moreparameters of interest is determined based on RSAXS measurementsperformed at a single orientation of the incident x-ray beam withrespect to the measurement target. The initial, estimated values areimplemented as the starting values of the parameters of interest for aregression of the measurement model with measurement data collected fromRSAXS measurements at multiple orientations. In this manner, a closeestimate of a parameter of interest is determined with a relativelysmall amount of computational effort, and by implementing this closeestimate as the starting point for a regression over a much larger dataset, a refined estimate of the parameter of interest is obtained withless overall computational effort.

In a further aspect, RSAXS measurement data is used to generate an imageof a measured structure based on the measured intensities of thedetected diffraction orders. In some embodiments, a RSAXS responsefunction model is generalized to describe the scattering from a genericelectron density mesh. Matching this model to the measured signals,while constraining the modelled electron densities in this mesh toenforce continuity and sparse edges, provides a three dimensional imageof the sample.

Although, geometric, model-based, parametric inversion is preferred forcritical dimension (CD) metrology based on RSAXS measurements, a map ofthe specimen generated from the same RSAXS measurement data is useful toidentify and correct model errors when the measured specimen deviatesfrom the assumptions of the geometric model.

In some examples, the image is compared to structural characteristicsestimated by a geometric, model-based parametric inversion of the samescatterometry measurement data. Discrepancies are used to update thegeometric model of the measured structure and improve measurementperformance. The ability to converge on an accurate parametricmeasurement model is particularly important when measuring integratedcircuits to control, monitor, and trouble-shoot their manufacturingprocess.

In some examples, the image is a two dimensional (2-D) map of electrondensity, absorptivity, complex index of refraction, or a combination ofthese material characteristics. In some examples, the image is a threedimensional (3-D) map of electron density, absorptivity, complex indexof refraction, or a combination of these material characteristics. Themap is generated using relatively few physical constraints. In someexamples, one or more parameters of interest, such as critical dimension(CD), sidewall angle (SWA), overlay, edge placement error, pitch walk,etc., are estimated directly from the resulting map. In some otherexamples, the map is useful for debugging the wafer process when thesample geometry or materials deviate outside the range of expectedvalues contemplated by a parametric structural model employed formodel-based CD measurement. In one example, the differences between themap and a rendering of the structure predicted by the parametricstructural model according to its measured parameters are used to updatethe parametric structural model and improve its measurement performance.Further details are described in U.S. Patent Publication No.2015/0300965, the content of which is incorporated herein by referenceit its entirety. Additional details are described in U.S. PatentPublication No. 2015/0117610, the content of which is incorporatedherein by reference it its entirety.

In a further aspect, model building and analysis engine 180 is employedto generate models for combined x-ray and optical measurement analysis.In some examples, optical simulations are based on, e.g., rigorouscoupled-wave analysis (RCWA) where Maxwell's equations are solved tocalculate optical signals such as reflectivities for differentpolarizations, ellipsometric parameters, phase change, etc.

Values of one or more parameters of interest are determined based on acombined fitting analysis of the detected intensities of the x-raydiffraction orders at the plurality of different angles of incidence anddetected optical intensities with a combined, geometricallyparameterized response model. The optical intensities are measured by anoptical metrology tool that may or may not be mechanically integratedwith an x-ray metrology system, such as system 100 depicted in FIG. 2.Further details are described in U.S. Patent Publication No.2014/0019097 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0304424, the contentsof each are incorporated herein by reference it their entirety.

In another aspect, an x-ray based metrology system includes multipledetectors to separately detect the zero diffracted order and higherdiffracted orders. FIG. 9 depicts an x-ray based metrology system 400 inanother embodiment. Like numbered elements depicted in FIG. 9 areanalogous to those described with reference to FIG. 2.

As depicted in FIG. 9, wafer metrology subsystem 300 includes detectors310A and 310B. Detector 310A is located in the collection path ofdiffracted orders greater than zero. Detector 310B is located in thecollection path of the zeroth diffracted order. In this manner, the riskof contaminating the measurement of higher orders by signal spilloverfrom the zeroth order is minimized. In some other embodiments, threedetectors might be employed: one to detect the zero order, another tocollect positive, non-zero orders, and another to collect negative,non-zero orders. In general, any combination of multiple detectors maybe contemplated to detect the zeroth diffraction order and higherdiffraction orders.

The embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2 includes a vacuumwindow 202 to filter the X-ray illumination and separate the vacuumenvironments of the plasma chamber 125 and the wafer metrology chamber311. Vacuum window 202 must be fabricated from very thin material layersto minimize absorption of desirable X-ray illumination light andmaximize absorption of undesirable infrared light from the pulsed laserillumination source (pump excitation source) 114. The thermal load onvacuum window 202 due to absorption of radiation is significant. Inaddition, vacuum window 202 must also be mechanically strong and stableto withstand the pressure difference between plasma chamber 125 and thewafer metrology chamber 311. A mechanical failure of vacuum window 202threatens the integrity of both the plasma chamber 125 and the wafermetrology chamber 311. In practice, it can be difficult to realize avacuum window that meets system requirements for filtering, x-raytransmission, and mechanical stability.

In another aspect, an x-ray based metrology system includes a multilayerdiffractive optical structure in the illumination path to filter theX-ray illumination light. In this manner, the need for a vacuum windowin the illumination path is eliminated. FIG. 10 depicts an x-ray basedmetrology system 500 in another embodiment. Like numbered elementsdepicted in FIG. 10 are analogous to those described with reference toFIG. 2.

As depicted in FIG. 10, ellipsoid mirror 501 is coated withthree-dimensional multilayer diffraction optical structure 502. In someembodiments, the 3D multilayer structure 502 is a blazed grating. Inother embodiments, the 3D multilayer structure 502 is a Lamellargrating. The angular dispersion of different wavelengths fromthree-dimensional multilayer diffraction optical structure 502 filtersout unwanted radiation from the X-ray illumination light, thus enhancingspectral purity. Light from the pulsed laser illumination source 114(e.g., IR light) and unwanted wavelengths generated by plasma 103 (e.g.,UV, EUV, or both) are diffracted at a different angle than lightgenerated by plasma 103 (e.g., SXR light). The undesirable IR light isdirected to a beam dump 504 and the desirable SRX light propagates towafer 306.

To maintain a difference in vacuum plasma chamber 125 and the wafermetrology chamber 311, the two chambers are differentially pumped ataperture system 203. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10, aperturesystem 203 is sealed with respect to beamline 200 around the outside ofthe aperture. Hence, the only clear path between plasma chamber 125 andthe wafer metrology chamber 311 is through the very small aperture ofaperture system 203. Differential pumping is sufficient to maintainseparate vacuum levels in plasma chamber 125 and the wafer metrologychamber 311.

In another aspect, an x-ray based metrology system includes a zone platestructure in the illumination path to refocus excitation light back tothe laser produced plasma source. FIG. 11 depicts an x-ray basedmetrology system 600 in another embodiment. Like numbered elementsdepicted in FIG. 11 are analogous to those described with reference toFIG. 2.

As depicted in FIG. 11, a zone plate structure 603 is fabricated onellipsoid mirror 601. In turn, a three-dimensional multilayerdiffraction optical structure 602 is deposited on zone plate structure603 and ellipsoid mirror 601. In some embodiments, the 3D multilayerstructure 602 is a blazed grating. In other embodiments, the 3Dmultilayer structure 602 is a Lamellar grating. Incident infrared lightfrom pulsed laser illumination source 114 is scattered by zone platestructure 603 onto the reflective surface of ellipsoid mirror 601, whichrefocuses the scattered infrared light back to plasma 103. Additional,unwanted wavelengths 605 generated by plasma 103 (e.g., UV, EUV, orboth) are diffracted by the 3D multilayer structure 602 to beam dump604, and the desirable SRX light propagates to wafer 306.

To maintain a difference in vacuum plasma chamber 125 and the wafermetrology chamber 311, the two chambers are differentially pumped ataperture system 203. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11, aperturesystem 203 is sealed with respect to beamline 200 around the outside ofthe aperture. Hence, the only clear path between plasma chamber 125 andthe wafer metrology chamber 311 is through the very small aperture ofaperture system 203. Differential pumping is sufficient to maintainseparate vacuum levels in plasma chamber 125 and the wafer metrologychamber 311.

In a further aspect, the flux of X-ray illumination light generated by aliquid sheet jet LPP illumination source is monitored and controlled.FIG. 2 depicts a flux sensor 118 located near the entrance of beamline200. Measured values of x-ray flux are communicated to computing system130. In response, computing system 130 compares the measured flux with adesired flux and communicates control commands 136 to pulsed laserillumination source 114 to adjust the output of pulsed laserillumination source 114 to reduce the difference between the measuredflux and the desired flux.

In some embodiments, the wavelengths emitted by plasma 103 areselectable. In some embodiments, pulsed laser illumination source 114 iscontrolled by computing system 130 to maximize flux generated by plasma103 in one or more selected spectral regions. Pump laser peak intensityat the target material controls the plasma temperature and thus thespectral region of emitted radiation. Pump laser peak intensity isvaried by adjusting pulse energy, pulse width, or both. In one example,a 100 picosecond pulse width is suitable for generating SXR radiation.As depicted in FIG. 2, computing system 130 communicates command signals136 to pulsed laser illumination source 114 that cause pulsed laserillumination source 114 to adjust the spectral range of wavelengthsemitted from plasma 103.

It should be recognized that the various steps described throughout thepresent disclosure may be carried out by a single computer system 130or, alternatively, a multiple computer system 130. Moreover, differentsubsystems of the system 100, such as the specimen positioning system320, may include a computer system suitable for carrying out at least aportion of the steps described herein. Therefore, the aforementioneddescription should not be interpreted as a limitation on the presentinvention but merely an illustration. Further, the one or more computingsystems 130 may be configured to perform any other step(s) of any of themethod embodiments described herein.

In addition, the computer system 130 may be communicatively coupled tothe pulsed laser illumination source 114, aperture system 203, specimenpositioning system 320, and detector 310 in any manner known in the art.For example, the one or more computing systems 130 may be coupled tocomputing systems associated with the pulsed laser illumination source114, aperture system 203, specimen positioning system 320, and detector310, respectively. In another example, any of the pulsed laserillumination source 114, aperture system 203, specimen positioningsystem 320, and detector 310 may be controlled directly by a singlecomputer system coupled to computer system 130.

The computer system 130 may be configured to receive and/or acquire dataor information from the subsystems of the system (e.g., pulsed laserillumination source 114, aperture system 203, specimen positioningsystem 320, and detector 310, and the like) by a transmission mediumthat may include wireline and/or wireless portions. In this manner, thetransmission medium may serve as a data link between the computer system130 and other subsystems of the system 100.

Computer system 130 of the metrology system 100 may be configured toreceive and/or acquire data or information (e.g., measurement results,modeling inputs, modeling results, etc.) from other systems by atransmission medium that may include wireline and/or wireless portions.In this manner, the transmission medium may serve as a data link betweenthe computer system 130 and other systems (e.g., memory on-boardmetrology system 100, external memory, or external systems). Forexample, the computing system 130 may be configured to receivemeasurement data (e.g., signals 135) from a storage medium (i.e., memory132 or 190) via a data link. For instance, intensity results obtainedusing detector 310 may be stored in a permanent or semi-permanent memorydevice (e.g., memory 132 or 190). In this regard, the measurementresults may be imported from on-board memory or from an external memorysystem. Moreover, the computer system 130 may send data to other systemsvia a transmission medium. For instance, specimen parameter values 186determined by computer system 130 may be stored in a permanent orsemi-permanent memory device (e.g., memory 190). In this regard,measurement results may be exported to another system.

Computing system 130 may include, but is not limited to, a personalcomputer system, mainframe computer system, workstation, image computer,parallel processor, cloud based computing system, or any other deviceknown in the art. In general, the term “computing system” may be broadlydefined to encompass any device having one or more processors, whichexecute instructions from a memory medium.

Program instructions 134 implementing methods such as those describedherein may be transmitted over a transmission medium such as a wire,cable, or wireless transmission link. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 2, program instructions stored in memory 132 are transmitted toprocessor 131 over bus 133. Program instructions 134 are stored in acomputer readable medium (e.g., memory 132). Exemplary computer-readablemedia include read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic oroptical disk, or a magnetic tape.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method 700 suitable for implementation by themetrology systems 100, 400, 500, and 600 of the present invention. Inone aspect, it is recognized that data processing blocks of method 700may be carried out via a pre-programmed algorithm executed by one ormore processors of computing system 130. While the following descriptionis presented in the context of metrology systems 100, 400, 500, and 600,it is recognized herein that the particular structural aspects ofmetrology systems 100, 400, 500, and 600 do not represent limitationsand should be interpreted as illustrative only.

In block 701, a cascade of one or more sheet jets of at least onenon-metallic feed material in a liquid state is dispensed into a plasmachamber. The plasma chamber has at least one wall operable in part tocontain a flow of buffer gas within the plasma chamber.

In block 702, a pulse of excitation light is generated and directed toone of the one or more sheet jets in the plasma chamber. The interactionof the pulse of excitation light with the sheet jet of the feed materialcauses the sheet jet to ionize to form a plasma that emits anillumination light. The illumination light comprises one or more lineemissions in a spectral region from 10 electronvolts to 5,000electronvolts.

In block 703, an amount of light is detected from the specimen inresponse to the illumination light.

In block 704, a value of at least one parameter of interest of thespecimen under measurement is determined based at on the amount ofdetected light.

In some embodiments, scatterometry measurements as described herein areimplemented as part of a fabrication process tool. Examples offabrication process tools include, but are not limited to, lithographicexposure tools, film deposition tools, implant tools, and etch tools. Inthis manner, the results of a RSAXS analysis are used to control afabrication process. In one example, RSAXS measurement data collectedfrom one or more targets is sent to a fabrication process tool. TheRSAXS measurement data is analyzed as described herein and the resultsused to adjust the operation of the fabrication process tool to reduceerrors in the manufacture of semiconductor structures.

Scatterometry measurements as described herein may be used to determinecharacteristics of a variety of semiconductor structures. Exemplarystructures include, but are not limited to, FinFETs, low-dimensionalstructures such as nanowires or graphene, sub 10 nm structures,lithographic structures, through substrate vias (TSVs), memorystructures such as DRAM, DRAM 4F2, FLASH, MRAM and high aspect ratiomemory structures. Exemplary structural characteristics include, but arenot limited to, geometric parameters such as line edge roughness, linewidth roughness, pore size, pore density, side wall angle, profile,critical dimension, pitch, thickness, overlay, and material parameterssuch as electron density, composition, grain structure, morphology,stress, strain, and elemental identification. In some embodiments, themetrology target is a periodic structure. In some other embodiments, themetrology target is aperiodic.

In some examples, measurements of critical dimensions, thicknesses,overlay, and material properties of high aspect ratio semiconductorstructures including, but not limited to, spin transfer torque randomaccess memory (STT-RAM), three dimensional NAND memory (3D-NAND) orvertical NAND memory (V-NAND), dynamic random access memory (DRAM),three dimensional FLASH memory (3D-FLASH), resistive random accessmemory (Re-RAM), and phase change random access memory (PC-RAM) areperformed with RSAXS measurement systems as described herein.

As described herein, the term “critical dimension” includes any criticaldimension of a structure (e.g., bottom critical dimension, middlecritical dimension, top critical dimension, sidewall angle, gratingheight, etc.), a critical dimension between any two or more structures(e.g., distance between two structures), and a displacement between twoor more structures (e.g., overlay displacement between overlayinggrating structures, etc.). Structures may include three dimensionalstructures, patterned structures, overlay structures, etc.

As described herein, the term “critical dimension application” or“critical dimension measurement application” includes any criticaldimension measurement.

As described herein, the term “metrology system” includes any systememployed at least in part to characterize a specimen in any aspect,including critical dimension applications and overlay metrologyapplications. However, such terms of art do not limit the scope of theterm “metrology system” as described herein. In addition, the metrologysystems described herein may be configured for measurement of patternedwafers and/or unpatterned wafers. The metrology system may be configuredas a LED inspection tool, edge inspection tool, backside inspectiontool, macro-inspection tool, or multi-mode inspection tool (involvingdata from one or more platforms simultaneously), and any other metrologyor inspection tool that benefits from the measurement techniquesdescribed herein.

Various embodiments are described herein for a semiconductor processingsystem (e.g., an inspection system or a lithography system) that may beused for processing a specimen. The term “specimen” is used herein torefer to a wafer, a reticle, or any other sample that may be processed(e.g., printed or inspected for defects) by means known in the art.

As used herein, the term “wafer” generally refers to substrates formedof a semiconductor or non-semiconductor material. Examples include, butare not limited to, monocrystalline silicon, gallium arsenide, andindium phosphide. Such substrates may be commonly found and/or processedin semiconductor fabrication facilities. In some cases, a wafer mayinclude only the substrate (i.e., bare wafer). Alternatively, a wafermay include one or more layers of different materials formed upon asubstrate. One or more layers formed on a wafer may be “patterned” or“unpatterned.” For example, a wafer may include a plurality of dieshaving repeatable pattern features.

A “reticle” may be a reticle at any stage of a reticle fabricationprocess, or a completed reticle that may or may not be released for usein a semiconductor fabrication facility. A reticle, or a “mask,” isgenerally defined as a substantially transparent substrate havingsubstantially opaque regions formed thereon and configured in a pattern.The substrate may include, for example, a glass material such asamorphous SiO₂. A reticle may be disposed above a resist-covered waferduring an exposure step of a lithography process such that the patternon the reticle may be transferred to the resist.

One or more layers formed on a wafer may be patterned or unpatterned.For example, a wafer may include a plurality of dies, each havingrepeatable pattern features. Formation and processing of such layers ofmaterial may ultimately result in completed devices. Many differenttypes of devices may be formed on a wafer, and the term wafer as usedherein is intended to encompass a wafer on which any type of deviceknown in the art is being fabricated.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by ageneral purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carryor store desired program code means in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,XRF disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

Although certain specific embodiments are described above forinstructional purposes, the teachings of this patent document havegeneral applicability and are not limited to the specific embodimentsdescribed above. Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, andcombinations of various features of the described embodiments can bepracticed without departing from the scope of the invention as set forthin the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A laser produced plasma light source, comprising:a plasma chamber having at least one wall operable in part to contain aflow of buffer gas within the plasma chamber; a liquid sheet jet nozzlethat dispenses a cascade of one or more sheet jets of a non-metallicfeed material in a liquid state into the plasma chamber; and a pulsedlaser that generates a pulse of excitation light directed to one of theone or more sheet jets of the feed material in the plasma chamber,wherein the interaction of the pulse of excitation light with the sheetjet of the feed material causes the sheet jet to ionize to form a plasmathat emits an illumination light, wherein the illumination lightcomprises one or more line emissions in a spectral region from 10electronvolts to 5,000 electronvolts, wherein the illumination light isuseable to illuminate a specimen under measurement.
 2. The laserproduced plasma light source of claim 1, wherein the liquid sheet jetnozzle includes two capillary tubes that each terminate at an exitaperture of the liquid sheet jet nozzle, wherein the two capillary tubesare spatially separated at the exit aperture, and wherein a merging offlows from each of the capillary tubes beyond the exit aperture of theliquid sheet jet nozzle generates the cascade of one or more sheet jetsof the non-metallic feed material.
 3. The laser produced plasma lightsource of claim 1, wherein the liquid sheet jet nozzle includes a planarshaped cavity that converges at an exit aperture of the liquid sheet jetnozzle, wherein a convergence of flow through the planar shaped cavityat the exit aperure of the liquid sheet jet nozzle generates the cascadeof one or more sheet jets of the non-metallic feed material.
 4. Thelaser produced plasma light source of claim 1, wherein the non-metallicfeed material is a material comprising one of more elements each havingan atomic number less than
 19. 5. The laser produced plasma light sourceof claim 4, wherein the non-metallic feed material includes a firstnon-metallic feed material comprising one or more elements each havingan atomic number less than 19 dissolved in a solvent, the solventcomprising elements each having an atomic number less than
 19. 6. Thelaser produced plasma light source of claim 1, further comprising: aliquid recycling system configured to collect a portion of the liquidfeed material dispensed by the liquid sheet jet nozzle and provide thecollected portion of the liquid feed material to an input port of theliquid sheet jet nozzle.
 7. The laser produced plasma light source ofclaim 6, the liquid recycling system including a liquid trap having aninlet opened to the plasma chamber, and a vacuum pump coupled to theliquid trap, wherein the vacuum pump evacuates an amount of feedmaterial evaporated from the collected liquid feed material from theliquid trap.
 8. The laser produced plasma light source of claim 1,further comprising: one or more gas manifolds disposed within the plasmachamber, wherein the one or more gas manifolds disperse a flow of buffergas into the plasma chamber; and a vacuum pump coupled to the plasmachamber, wherein the vacuum pump evacuates the flow of buffer gas alongwith debris generated by the plasma entrained in the flow of buffer gasfrom the plasma chamber.
 9. The laser produced plasma light source ofclaim 8, wherein the buffer gas is nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, argon,neon, or any combination thereof.
 10. The laser produced plasma lightsource of claim 1, wherein a distance from an exit aperture of theliquid sheet jet nozzle to a location of incidence of the pulse ofexcitation light with the sheet jet of the feed material is in a rangebetween 1 centimeter and 10 centimeters.
 11. The laser produced plasmalight source of claim 1, wherein a distance between a window of theplasma chamber and the plasma is at least 10 centimeters.
 12. The laserproduced plasma light source of claim 1, wherein a thickness of thesheet jet of the feed material at a location of incidence of the pulseof excitation light with the sheet jet of the feed material is in arange between 1 micrometer and 5 micrometers.
 13. The laser producedplasma light source of claim 1, wherein a brilliance of the plasma isgreater than 10¹³ photons/(sec)·(mm²)·(mrad²)·(1% bandwidth).
 14. Thelaser produced plasma light source of claim 1, wherein the spot size ofthe plasma is less than 100 micrometers.
 15. A metrology systemcomprising: a laser produced plasma light source comprising: a plasmachamber having at least one wall operable in part to contain a flow ofbuffer gas within the plasma chamber; a liquid sheet jet nozzle thatdispenses a cascade of one or more sheet jets of a non-metallic feedmaterial in a liquid state into the plasma chamber; a pulsed laser thatgenerates a pulse of excitation light directed to one of the one or moresheet jets of the feed material in the plasma chamber, wherein theinteraction of the pulse of excitation light with the sheet jet of thefeed material causes the sheet jet to ionize to form a plasma that emitsan illumination light, wherein the illumination light comprises one ormore line emissions in a spectral region from 10 electronvolts to 5,000electronvolts, wherein the illumination light is useable to illuminate aspecimen under measurement; one or more optical elements in anillumination path between the plasma and the specimen under measurement;one or more x-ray detectors that detect an amount of light from thespecimen in response to the illumination light incident on the specimen;and a computing system configured to determine a value of a parameter ofinterest characterizing the specimen under measurement based on thedetected amount of light.
 16. The metrology system of claim 15, whereinthe metrology system is configured as a reflective small angle x-rayscatterometry system.
 17. The metrology system of claim 15, the one ormore optical elements in the illumination path including an ellipsoidalmirror that focuses the illumination light incident to the specimen. 18.The metrology system of claim 17, the ellipsoidal mirror including amultilayer diffractive optical structure fabricated on the ellipsoidalmirror, wherein the multilayer diffractive optical structure diffracts afirst portion of the illumination light incident on the ellipsoidalmirror toward a beam dump and a second portion of the illumination lightincident on the ellipsoidal mirror toward the specimen undermeasurement.
 19. The metrology system of claim 17, the ellipsoidalmirror including a zone plate structure fabricated on the ellipsoidalmirror, and a multilayer diffractive optical structure fabricated on theellipsoidal mirror over the zone plate structure, wherein the zone platestructure scatters a first portion of the illumination light incident onthe ellipsoidal mirror back to the plasma, wherein the multilayerdiffractive optical structure diffracts a second portion of theillumination light incident on the ellipsoidal mirror toward a beam dumpand a third portion of the illumination light incident on theellipsoidal mirror toward the specimen under measurement.
 20. A methodcomprising: dispensing a cascade of one or more sheet jets of at leastone non-metallic feed material in a liquid state into a plasma chamber,the plasma chamber having at least one wall operable in part to containa flow of buffer gas within the plasma chamber; generating a pulse ofexcitation light directed to one of the one or more sheet jets in theplasma chamber, wherein the interaction of the pulse of excitation lightwith the sheet jet of the feed material causes the sheet jet to ionizeto form a plasma that emits an illumination light, wherein theillumination light comprises one or more line emissions in a spectralregion from 10 electronvolts to 5,000 electronvolts; detecting an amountof light from the specimen in response to the illumination light; anddetermining a value of at least one parameter of interest of thespecimen under measurement based at on the amount of detected light. 21.The method of claim 20, wherein the non-metallic feed material is amaterial comprising one or more elements each having an atomic numberless than
 19. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the non-metallic feedmaterial includes a first non-metallic feed material comprising one ofmore elements each having an atomic number less than 19 dissolved in asolvent, the solvent comprising elements each having an atomic numberless than
 19. 23. The method of claim 20, further comprising: collectinga portion of the liquid feed material dispensed by the liquid sheet jetnozzle; and providing the collected portion of the liquid feed materialto an input port of a liquid sheet jet nozzle that dispenses the cascadeof one or more sheet jets into the plasma chamber.